Panama City seeking new attorney

Published: Monday, January 28, 2013 at 09:15 PM.

PANAMA CITY
— Commissioners discussed their criteria and the selection process for a city attorney for the first time in 40 years on Monday.

Commissioners met during a round-table to discuss replacing Rowlett Bryant. Bryant is retiring after 41 years city attorney.
Panama City
has not gone through the process of hiring an attorney since 1972, and a contract for legal representation of the city must be drafted.

City Manager Ken Hammons, who has been with the city for 18 years, said he has never seen a contract between Bryant and the city. One may not have ever existed.

One commissioner was unsure of how the relationship worked.

“Nobody has ever told me if I call [Rowlett] on the phone that was costing the city,” said Commissioner Billy Rader. “I’ve
nev
er known that.”

There were other issue facing the commission. For instance, the City’s Charter once only allowed a white male to serve as city attorney. Now, the charter says any eligible voter can serve as the attorney.

PANAMA CITY — Commissioners discussed their criteria and the selection process for a city attorney for the first time in 40 years on Monday.

Commissioners met during a round-table to discuss replacing Rowlett Bryant. Bryant is retiring after 41 years city attorney. Panama City has not gone through the process of hiring an attorney since 1972, and a contract for legal representation of the city must be drafted.

City Manager Ken Hammons, who has been with the city for 18 years, said he has never seen a contract between Bryant and the city. One may not have ever existed.

One commissioner was unsure of how the relationship worked.

“Nobody has ever told me if I call [Rowlett] on the phone that was costing the city,” said Commissioner Billy Rader. “I’ve never known that.”

There were other issue facing the commission. For instance, the City’s Charter once only allowed a white male to serve as city attorney. Now, the charter says any eligible voter can serve as the attorney.

“A lot of things have changed over the years,” Brudnicki said. “It was very limited. In the charter itself there are certain qualifications that have to be met and we wanted to define the scope of services.”

Commissioners determined what they were looking for in a new city attorney and the city manager’s office will put out a request for proposals on Wednesday.

Bryant will continue to be the city’s attorney until April 1.

“I would hope that we would establish a system that would be used in the future, but hopefully nobody has to worry about it for a long time,” Brudnicki said. “We will establish what has not been done in the past, we will have a process and we will have a contract to dictate what the process will be in the future.”

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